Exterior

St George's Church in Osborne Raod, Jesmond, was
designed by T. R. Spence (1823-1865) under the patronage and at the
expense of Charles Mitchell, the partner of Northumbrian shipbuilder
and munitions manufacturer, Lord
Armstrong. Dedicated in 1888, it is built of local sandstone
ashlar with a Lakeland slate roof. Unusually for the work of a lesser
known architect working outside the city and far from the capital, it
is a Grade I Listed Building, and its
architect's masterpiece.

Left to right: (a) Closer view of the campanile. (b)
Entrance to south porch. (c) Windows. (d) Seen from the west end, the
church is narrower than one might expect, the windows high and
tall.

Described as a "very ambitious church.... very progressive in style
for its date," St George's has "a high clerestory with five large
windows rising from wide aisles with paired lancets, the gable of the
SW porch rising over the eaves at one end, and the campanile ...
standing forward at the other, its pyramidal top in complete harmony
with the steeply pitched main roof" (Pevsner et al 508-9). The
campanile was inspired by that of St Mark's in Venice, and according
to the church's own website is 154' high, making it a landmark for the
whole area. The beautifully designed wrought-iron gates to the south
porch were made to Spence's design by Alfred James Shirley, who was
responsible for all the ironwork in the church, as well as brass and
copperwork (see Moat 103). Ii is easy to see in its part-intricate,
part-lavish foliate and floral scrolling why the church is said to
have art nouveau
touches, though, as so often, this kind of work is better ascribed to
the Arts and Crafts
movement of this time in England. The ironwork of the windows is
plainer but still unusual. Notice not only the height of the windows
but the pitch of the roof, making the church rise dramatically to the
sky.

Interior

Left to right: (a) Looking towards the baptistry. (b)
The font is very richly made, both in its materials and workmanship.
(c) The tall pulpit is also made of rich materials, with the addition
of extensive and intricate oak carving.

The interior really soars. It is very impressive, almost like a
small cathedral —as the church website claims. Inside as well as
out,"all is expensive and well-executed, and very progressive in style
for its date" (Pevsner et al. 508). The first photograph gives an idea
of the stained glass windows behind the font, the lower ones designed
by Spence himself, the upper one, showing angels at the Last
Judgement and Resurrection, by John W. Brown (but with the upper part
probably altered later to Spence's own design, see Moat x). In the
middle of the stone tracery here is a bronze statue of St George, to
whom the church is dedicated, slaying a powerful-looking dragon. In
the centre is the font, made of Mexican onyx, on an alabaster base
with rouge jasper columns, the work of Newcastle firm Emley and Sons,
who were also responsible for the altar and reredos. Note its
eye-catching cover of wrought-iron and copper. This confection is less
fanciful than G. E. Street's
extraordinary font cover at St James the Less in London, but also
distinctly aspirational. Sadly, the cover here disappeared later on.
The pulpit is equally elaborate, its wood carving carried out by
prominent local artist Ralph Hedley (see church website).

The choir stalls to the left of the chancel, with the
organ behind them. Hedley was responsible for the wood carving here,
as elsewhere in the church. Also shown are the floor mosaics with
their Biblical motifs.

It is easy to see why Neil Moat believes that St George's could be
seen as "the first building in which the aims of the Art Workers'
Guild were comprehensively demonstrated, and on the largest of scales"
(11). To support his view, among those involved here were two notable
members of the guild, Heywood Sumner, at one
time Master of the guild, who was responsible for the "gilded
gesso-work in the choir" (Moat 104), and Sir George Frampton,
whose fine memorial to Charles Mitchell can be seen in the north aisle
(there is another by him here too). Among many additional decorative
elements, which all blend together harmoniously, is a set of painted
panels in the north aisle, in a Pre-Raphaelite style, long
thought to have been by Charles Mitchell. Mitchell was indeed much
involved in the decoration of the church; but these are now known to
have been by Spence himself (see church website).

The Church Hall and Administrative Centre

Left: The Church Hall and Administrative Centre. Right:
Close-up of gable with its decorative elements.

The attractive Church Hall was also designed by Spence, and is
Grade II listed. This has a very Arts-and-Crafts feel, and the church
buildings together make a very attractive ensemble.